Deciphering the High Quality Genome Sequence of Coriander that Causes Controversial Feelings

First author: Xiaoming Song; Affiliations: North China University of Science and Technology (华北理工大学): Tangshan, China

Corresponding author: Xiyin Wang

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L. 2n = 2x = 22), a plant from the Apiaceae family, also called cilantro or Chinese parsley, is a globally important crop used as vegetable, spice, fragrance, and traditional medicine. Here, we report a high‐quality assembly and analysis of its genome sequence, anchored to 11 chromosomes, with total length of 2,118.68 Mb and N50 scaffold length 160.99 Mb. We found that two whole‐genome duplication events, respectively dated to ~ 45‐52 and ~ 54‐61 million years ago, were shared by the Apiaceae family after their split from lettuce. Unbalanced gene loss and expression observed between duplicated copies produced by these two events. Gene retention, expression, metabolomics and comparative genomic analyses of Terpene synthase (TPS) gene family, involved in terpenoid biosynthesis pathway contributing to coriander’s special flavor, revealed that tandem duplication contributed to coriander TPS gene family expansion, especially compared to their carrot counterparts. Notably, a TPS gene highly expressed in all 4 tissues and 3 development stages studied, is likely a major‐effect gene encoding linalool synthase and myrcene synthase. The present genome sequencing, transcriptome, metabolome and comparative genomic efforts provide valuable insights into the genome evolution and spice trait biology of Apiaceae and others related plants, and facilitated further research into important gene functions and crop improvement.

香菜，二倍体，共11对（22条）条染色体，伞形科植物，又名胡荽或中国香芹，是一个全球性作物，用作蔬菜、香料、花香和传统药物。本文中，作者报道了香菜的高质量参考基因组，并挂载到11个染色体上，全长约2.12 Gb，scaffold N50长约160.99 Mb。作者鉴定到了两次全基因组复制事件，一次在45-52个百万年之前，一次在54-61个百万年之前，是在自伞形科植物与生菜分化后共同祖先中发生的。作者发现这两次全基因组复制事件发生后，在不同重复拷贝之间发生了不平衡的基因丢失和表达。萜类化合物参与了香菜的特殊风味的形成，作者通过对萜类合酶TPS基因家族的基因保留、表达、代谢组以及比较基因组分析发现，与香菜近缘物种胡萝卜相比，串联重复作用与该基因家族的扩张。值得注意的是，作者发现了一个TPS基因在四个组织和3个发育时期均高表达，很有可能是编码芳樟醇合酶和月桂烯合酶的主要基因。本文所报道的香菜基因组、转录组、代谢组以及比较基因组对于深入了解伞形科植物和其它相关植物的基因组演化和香料性状生物学提供了珍贵的视野，同时也将促进未来对于重要基因的功能鉴定及作物遗传改良。

通讯：王希胤 (http://bio.ncst.edu.cn/col/1460771460061/2016/04/19/1461037268201.html)

个人简介：1991-1995年，吉林大学，学士；2000-2005年，北京大学，博士；2006-2009年，美国乔治亚大学，博士后。

研究方向：植物基因组。

doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.13310

Journal: Plant Biotechnology Journal

First Published: December 04, 2019